EU Illegal Immigration Hits Highest Level Since 2016 Migrant Crisis

CATANIA, ITALY - APRIL 12: A group of police officers await the disembarkation of the 600
Fabrizio Villa/Getty Images
Kurt Zindulka

Illegal migration into the European Union has hit its highest level since 2016 after surging by 17 per cent over last year, according to calculations from the Frontex European Border and Coast Guard Agency.

Preliminary figures released from Frontex on Tuesday showed that recorded border crossings by illegals rose to an estimated 380,000 in 2023, the highest figure recorded since 2016 amid the European Migrant Crisis following former German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s unilateral decision to open the gates to mass migration.

The border agency noted that the increase witnessed last year follows a “consistent upward trend over the past three years” and was a 17 per cent jump over 2022.

According to Frontex, approximately eight in ten illegal migrants recorded entering the EU in 2023 were adult males, while just ten per cent were women and another ten per cent were minors under the age of 18. However, the number of unaccompanied minors rose by 28 per cent over the previous year, totalling more than 20,000 in 2023.

Syrians accounted for over a quarter of all illegal crossings, with 100,000 illegals from the country being recorded as entering the EU last year, the highest number among all nationalities. They were followed by illegals from Guinea and Afghanistan. Combined, the top three nationalities comprised 37 per cent of all illegal migrants who entered the bloc.

The data also found a “noticeable increase in African migrants, particularly from West Africa,” who now account for nearly half (47 per cent) of all illegals detected breaking into the European Union last year.

Frontex reported that the most active route for illegals remained the Central Mediterranean, which accounted for 41 per cent of all crossings in 2023. This was followed by the Western Balkans route at 26 per cent and the Eastern Mediterranean at 16 per cent.

Commenting on the figures, Frontex Executive Director Hans Leijtens said: “The numbers presented today show the evolving challenges we face in managing the EU’s external borders.

“We remain committed to ensuring the security and integrity of the EU’s borders. It’s equally crucial to address the humanitarian aspects of migration. These figures represent not just statistics but real people.”

The continued surge in illegal immigration into Europe is having significant political consequences, with populist parties surging across the continent and neo-liberal globalist governments scrambling to appear to be confronting the issue.

The combination of years of economic stagnation following the coronavirus lockdowns and the war in Ukraine in conjunction with growing discontent with over the billions spent across Europe on illegal migrants, has spurred victories for populist figures such as Geert Wilders in the Netherlands and surging polling for anti-mass migration parties like the Alternative for Germany (AfD).

Migration will likely be a major issue as over 450 million Europeans head to the polls to select the next EU Parliament in June. While globalist figures such as French President Emmanuel Macron have recently made concessions to the right and vowed to step up deportations, it is unlikely that his centrist government will be able to win back voters who have defected to Marine Le Pen’s National Rally after years of open borders policies from the establishment in Paris.

In apparent expectation of heavy losses, globalist forces throughout Europe are threatening to step up their anti-democratic efforts to “protect” democracy, with leading politicians in Berlin calling for the outright ban of the populist AfD party and EU chief Ursula von der Leyen using her speech at the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum in Davos to call for increased censorship ahead of the elections.

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